This week marks Children's Mental Health Week (6-12 February 2023). The focus on mental health has been increasing in recent years, with one in six children aged between five and 16 likely to have experienced mental health challenges. As a result, there are a growing number of workdays lost by parents, guardians, carers, and those with childcare responsibilities, to support and manage such challenges ...
On January 1, 2023, the Ohio Board of Nursing joined the multi-state Nurse Licensure Compact (“NLC”), allowing nurses who hold an Ohio nursing license to apply for a multi-state license. Ohio has joined at least 37 other states that participate in the multi-state license ...
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) entered into force on July 1, 2020 replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that has been in force since 1994. The USMCA has a sunset provision providing that investors may continue using NAFTA’s dispute resolution mechanism for NAFTA legacy investments for up to three years after NAFTA’s termination, i.e., until June 30, 2023 ...
HSR Notice Thresholds Have Increased. On January 26, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its revised annual threshold that determines whether companies may be required to notify federal antitrust authorities about a proposed merger or acquisition due to the size and value of the transaction. The Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act (Section 7A of the Clayton Act) requires parties to certain mergers and acquisitions to notify the FTC and U.S ...
On April 27, 2022,Republic Act No. 11712, or thePublic Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances for Health Care Workers Act(“RA 11712”), was signed into law in recognition of the critical role of health care workers in providing quality health care and ensuring disease prevention in the general population, especially during the pandemic. It seeks to promote the welfare of health care workers through the grant of mandatory benefits and allowances with utmost efficiency ...
As previously discussed in our January 5, 2023 legal alert, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (“Pennsylvania DHS”) issued a Medical Assistance Bulletin (the “Bulletin”) in late December, 2022 that had the potential to put 340B savings at risk in Pennsylvania ...
With cybersecurity risks increasing and evolving moving into 2023, the federal government is taking steps to help secure our cyber infrastructure. The recent passing of the 2023 omnibus spending agreement included additional funds for a variety of federal agencies in order to strengthen our cybersecurity apparatus. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (“CISA”) received $1.3 billion for its cybersecurity programs. This is a $230 million increase over last year ...
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued a Proposed Rule that would prohibit employers from enforcing non-compete agreements against former employees, contractors, and other workers. Dinsmore & Shohl’s Labor and Employment Group’s legal alert on January 5, provides general information about the changes envisaged in the Proposed Rule ...
With the decreasing number of positive COVID-19 cases, more employees are now returning to on-site work and new COVID-19 testing protocols are in place. The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (“IATF”) provided guidelines for COVID-19 testing requirements for unvaccinated and partially vaccinated employees through its Resolutions No. 148-B and 149. Also, the National COVID-19 Immunization Program opened to the general public nationwide ...
Pensions analysis: On 16 December 2022, the Pensions Regulator (TPR) published its consultation on the new defined benefit (DB) funding code of practice together with a response to its first consultation and a consultation on its proposed twin track regulatory approach to assessing valuations including its proposed Fast Track design. Suzanne Burrell, partner at Shoosmiths examines the consultation and its implications ...
Overview If you are thinking about outsourcing manufacturing but have no idea where to start, or if you are already sourcing your product overseas but running into complications, this book, So You Need To OutSource A Product?, will provide some helpful guidelines on navigating the process. You probably already know this, but it bears repeating: Manufacturing outsourcing raises profit margins, improves inventory management, and gets new products to market faster ...
July 2022 saw the formal commencement of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. Opened by Inquiry Chair Baroness Heather Hallett, we later witnessed preliminary hearings for Modules 1 and 2, held in October and November. As a reminder, Modules 1 and 2 cover the overarching topics of the UK’s pandemic preparedness and resilience, and core political and administrative decision-making throughout the UK (incorporating sub-modules for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), respectively ...
As the stock exchange market in the country develops, in addition to the regular auction trading method, block trades or special crossings (via the NTM) are also permitted, whereby the buyer and seller of listed shares can directly negotiate and agree upon the conditions of their transaction ...
To help further the objectives of the Women’s Health Strategy for England (published by the Department of Health and Social Care in July 2022) £1.97m has been awarded to help women in the workplace who are experiencing reproductive health issues. The grant will be shared between 16 charities which include, amongst others, Fertility Network UK, Sands, Tommy’s and Mind ...
On January 5, 2023 the SEC announced a settled Administrative Proceeding with Randy Robertson. Mr. Robertson previously served as the co-portfolio manager for the BlackRock Multi-Sector Income Trust (“BIT”). While serving as the co-portfolio manager for BIT, Mr. Robertson explored the possibility of a BlackRock investment opportunity regarding a potential secured lending investment relating to print and advertising expenses associated with film distribution. Mr ...
Matters of cross-border company mobility are addressed at European Union level by means of Directive (EU) 2017/1132 (the “2017 Directive”) which provides for cross-border mergers and domestic divisions of public limited liability companies ...
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel recently released an advisory opinion[i] regarding Section 1461 of title 18 of the U.S. Code. In it, they write the “Comstock Act”[ii] does not prohibit the mailing of certain medications used to perform abortions where the sender does not believe the medications will be used unlawfully. This opinion comes in the wake of the U.S ...
We have recently seen reports about the unbelievable amount of pressure on the NHS, including inaccessibility to GPs; a high degree of emergency admissions; and bed-blocking within hospitals where vulnerable patients cannot be discharged safely. These factors have exacerbated the pressure on our healthcare system to almost unprecedented levels. Medical technologies or MedTech could be the way forward to ease some of the pressure ...
With the well-known challenges of the last ten months or so, market conditions deteriorated substantially over 2022 and the venture capital (VC) market became a far more challenging one in which to agree a valuation and raise money. While those challenges are not over, from speaking to VC clients and others, there's a cautious optimism that as 2023 progresses the market will slowly improve ...
As the Covid-19 Inquiry reaches Module 2 of its timeline and it turns its attention to the political and administrative decisions made at the height of the pandemic, Shoosmiths looks at the history of public inquiries to reflect on their purpose and effectiveness in preventing future mistakes of the same kind. Reviewing previous public inquiries may inform us about the likely trajectory of the Covid-19 Inquiry ...
On January 11, 2023 the SEC Division of Investment Management issued an additional Marketing Rule FAQ. The newly issued FAQ addresses gross and net performance requirements applicable to private fund case studies, single investments and/or groups of investments, i.e. extracted performance. Specifically, the Question provides as follows: Q. When an adviser displays the gross performance of one investment (e.g ...
Broad scope of application The FSR targets any undertaking engaged in an economic activity in the internal market that has received a foreign subsidy distorting the internal market. A foreign subsidy is any financial contribution provided by a third country (non-EU Member State) which confers a benefit on an undertaking engaging in an economic activity in the internal market and which is limited to one or more undertakings or industries ...
